SHOOTING: Australian representative shooter John Patzwald would be happy to claim a score of 248 out of 250 on a still day in SSAA shooting.

He was even happier yesterday morning when he was one of the early leaders on a windy day in the SSAA International Rimfire Benchrest (IRB) State Championships at Risdon Range.

“It is a lot harder in the wind,” Patzwald said.

Patzwald won silver competing for Australia in world championships in France in 2014 and was relieved in one way this weekend’s event at Risdon Range was not a selection trial.

“I am here to have fun and go for a state title,” he said.

His first attempt at the state titles was a 25-shot round where 10 points were allocated for each shot.

Patzwald competes in Warwick annually and spends a lot of time finetuning his form on a range at Helidon.

He runs a tiling business out of Toowoomba and said shooting was a chance for people to tunnel their thoughts totally into shooting for a day.

“We have anyone from doctors to business owners competing in SSAA shooting,” he said.

SSAA Warwick branch secretary Marilyn Kelly said the event attracted shooters from as far away as Cairns and Newcastle.

“We have three shooters from Mackay and representatives from Armidale,” Kelly said.

“There are five shooters in Warwick this weekend who have been selected in an Australian team to compete in Portugal in July.”

The state championship IRB shoot will go to this afternoon and then the state championships in heavy rimfire benchrest will be held tomorrow and light rimfire rifle on Monday.

Cherrabah shoot

THERE will be simulated field shooting at its best for three days at Cherrabah during a sporting clays shoot this weekend.

The event is organised by the Toowoomba Clay Target Club and has attracted 280 shooters, including Olympian Paul Adams and world champion clays shooter Damian Birgan.

Birgan competed in the first sporting clays at Cherrabah last year but this year is a first for Adams who is already in the Australian team for this year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Paperwork is being finalised for the Cherrabah Sporting Clays Club which plans to organise monthly shoots on the new range at the resort at Cherrabah.

As well as the resort being booked out this weekend, some shooters have brought their own accommodation options like caravans and motorhomes to Elbow Valley.

The shoot currently on at Cherrabah was first held at Old Koreelah.